Apparatus for the conversion of motion according to one law into motion according to another law.



ivrLL-DM .ANNE MOUTON, or THE i-i/AGUD, NETHERLANDS, AND Anciens-ALD BARR AND WilLLieivr 'srnoun 'or vANNinsti-:alan GLAsGoW, sco'rLAND, Assienons To BARR AND srnOUD, L11-airain, Ior.ANNInsLAND, GLASGOW, scoTLAND.

APPARATUS FOR THE CONV-ERSKQN `OF MOTION lACCOl5tl')l[1\l'(`;`r T0 ONE LAVT INTO MOTION ACGGB-DING TG ANQT--IER LAW.

'Specification'of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang. 17, i915.

Application le'd'December 12, 1913. Serial No. 806,262.

To all Y"Lc/50m it ma?) concern.

Be it known 'that we, WILLEM ANNE MOUTON, a subject of the Queen of the hether'lands, and of Nassau Dillenburgstraat 4l, The vHague, Netherlands, and ARCHIBALD Bann and WILLIAM STROUD, 'subjects 'ci the 'King 'oi' Great Britain and 1reland, and both of Caxtonstreet, Annie'sland, Glasgow, Scotland, have invented new and useful Apparatus for the vConversion 'of Motion According to @ne :La-w into Motion According to Another Law, off which lthe 'following is 'a specification.

Mechanisms 4have been 'dcevi's'ed in which a driving member moved at -a uniform velocity has 'been constructed and arranged to drive a pinion in 'snc'h a manner that 'the rotation of the pinion is mad-'e in intermittent steps and its velocity is irregular. To satisfy the conditions appertaining 'to apparatus in which Ikmechanisms of this character have been used, the rotary motion. imparted to the 'pinion has "consisted either of l`a small number of intermittent steps, "or a short series of intermittent steps that recur's periodically, and for this ypi'irpose the driving member has consisted 'of an oscillating or rotating part yhaving a race of teeth spaced unequally apart, 'and arranged in *the fform of a complete circle or a segment thereof.

t may also be assumed 'that a race -for this purpose has been employed having A'teeth arranged in a straight line.

It will be recognized that a race of seg"- mental, circular', or straight form, While being suitable 'for 'producing either 'a small number of step-s, or a 'series ci' steps recurring periodically, is 'not suitable if a lon-g series of steps, varying 'in velocity in a nonrecu'rrent manner, are required to be produced, under conditions where the mecha*- nism must necessarily lhe comparatively small or compact; and it is 'the obj'ect of this invention to provide improved apparatus for the conversion of motion according to one law `into motion Vaccording to another law, in which there is v'employed a race or races off teeth adapted to be moved or imparting motion to `a Vpinion or pinions, in such a manner that 'the motion produced varies as regards its velocity relative to that of the race 'or races in a 'non-recurrent 'Inanner as the driving proceeds, and in which the race or races is or are so formed and arranged that a greater extent of non-recurrent variable motion can be produced by mechanism of comparatively small size or compact form than is possible or convenient in practice, if a circular, segmental, or straight vforim of race was used.

According to this invention a race as provided has 'a large number of 'teeth spaced unequally apart, and consists of a number of convolutions, arranged, for example, in the ifo'rm of a 'helix 4or spiral about the surface of a drum, cone or disk, or in the for-m cfa ribbon adapted to be wound from "one drum on to :anotheraan'd a pinion as provided ihas 'a comparatively small number lof teeth with 'which the teeth of the race engage occasionally and intermittently.

Apparatus according to this invention is specially ap'plicableto such cases 'as the con'- nec'tifon of two scales working past fixed pointers (or pointers working valong lfixed scales), one 'of the `sca-les being of 'ione' type and the other4 scale of another type', when it is l"desired that the readings on the ftwo scales will Ic'orresponld atfall times duringthe actuationrof the mechanism; and the appara'tus is adapted to -be associated in construction with means for transmitting fthe indications of the converted 'motion Ato a distance.

It will 'be clear that if the projecting teeth otra, race are equally spaced 'on fthe surface 'of al di-um, associated .with a first scale or its pointer, so as tov gea-r continuously with the teeth of a pinion, geared direc'tly to 'a second `scale 'or its pointer, any relative motion of the 'lirst scale and pointer is merely reproduced on a magnified or diminished scale in the relative motion of the second scale yand pointer. 1f the teeth olf the race are 'equally 'spaced but with a gap between two consecutive teeth, the motion of the pinion will occur 'inter'mi'ttently, but the general features oi ythe -law governing the motion of the irst scale and pointer will be reproduced in thev second scale and pointer. If, however, the teeth of 'the race aire nnequallyjspa'ced, a motion according to an entirely diii'erent law for the second scale and pointer, depending solely upon the positions in which the 'projecting Iteeth are placed, can be obtained.

Some examples of vthe construction of ap- 2 and Fis'. 7 is an end view showino` )arts 7 'a 'c3 l Y or its pointer.

4 is an end view showin@ )arts thereof to' be described. Figs. G and 8 represent in elevation and plan., a mechanism according to our invention Vafter the manner of Fig.

thereof to be described. ln the various figures onlya few ofthe teeth areshown. Figs. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate one form of locking mechanism.

In Fic. 1 1 is a member indicated in the form of a rack with. a race of teeth spaced unequally apart, and 2 isa pinion. The rack 1 if moved b y hand or powerv would operate the pinion 2 intermittently, and the pinion 2 could be arranged to communicate its motion by ordinary gearing to a scale rlhus if the rack 1 is moved byequal steps, the pinion 2 will move with unequal steps, the ratio of the motion depending upon the spacing of the teeth on a second scale or its pointer.

seen that with the spacing of teeth shown,

the part of the race in action for the time being.V Thus, for example, if the teeth of the-races on the rack 1 are spaced in accordance with a reciprocal. scale of ranges marked. on the raclr, the motion of the pinion will. be by equal 'steps for equal increments of range. Y

In Fig. 2 the rack 1 is'provided with two races of teeth spacedunequally apart, the two races operating intermittently two pinions 2 and 3 respectively, one of these pinions being directly geared to one scale or its pointer, the other being similarly geared to the velocityratios of the two pinions ar very different when the rack 1 is on the extreme right or extreme left.

The pinion 2, or each of the pinions 2 and 3, has a comparatively small number o-f teeth.

n the example of construction according to this'invention, conforming to the method explained with reference to Fig. 1, as illustrated in Figs. 3,- 4 and 5, the member is made inthe form of a drum 4, and the race is formed as a helical ridge projecting from the surface of the drum originally formed with a series of equally spaced teeth, certain of the teeth of which have been removed. This drum 4 is shown as being operated by a handle 5 and bevel gears 6 and 7. The pinion 2, provided with a flange 9 guided by a helical groove 10 in the drum 4, is feathered on a shaft 8. One scale or its pointer `is geared directly to the handle 5 lt will beA or drum 4,A while the secondiscale kor its pointer'is geared directly to the shaft 8.

It is unnecessary tov show the scales and `their pointers geared respectively to the handle 5 and shaft 8 as it will readily be seen that if the handle is rotated uniformly, the shaft 8 will rotate at* a certain rate'when Vpart-sof the race from which nov "teeth have been removed are'in mesh with Y pinion 2, whereas it will rotate intermitf Vtently and more slowly at other parts where teeth haveJbeen removed. p l y n the case abovel described the vtoothed Vdrum 4 is operated continuously, whereas Forv thek pinion 2is moved intermittently. approximately accurate correspondence of two scales, `since the intermittent motion imparted by the pinion 2 must necessarily be finite, it is imperative to reduce'the motion of the pinion 2 by suitable gearing., and this implies that the length of the belical race upon the ldrum 4 shallbe of suifi-Av cient length. Inv certain cases .we may greatly reduce the length ofthe helical race and make lthe whole apparatus much less cumbersome by operating in a manner, -conforming to the method explained with reference to F ig. y2, an example of which will -now be described with reference to'Figs. 6,

2, a flange 19 corresponding to the flange 9, and a feathered shaft 18 corresponding to the shaft 8. Thetwo scales or their pointers are in this case rgeared directly to the shafts 8 and 18 respectively. lf we take as an illustration the conversion of the reciprocal scale of a rangefinder into a unii form scale, we may suppose the shaft S to be geared directly to the reciprocal scale and the shaft 18 to the uniform scale. ln. this case at the high ranges we require to give a large motion to the uniform scale and a very small motion tothe reciprocal scale, and this may be accomplished by arranging'that the pinion-12 shall be in continuous mesh with the teeth of the race on the drum 14, while the pinion 2 at the same moment is only in intermittent `mesh with the teeth of the race on the drum 4. At low ranges the converse will hold, and the pinion 2 will be in continuous mesh withl the teethof the race on the drum 4,while the pinion 12 will be in intermittent mesh with the teeth of the race on the drum 14.

Thev two drums 4 and 14 need not be onone spindle, norY need they have equal motions. In some cases it may be convenient to arrange that the drums have different speeds of rotation. Y

Fig. 9 shows one method of locking the pinion 2 or 12 When intermittently not in mesh with the teeth of the race on the drum. Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate diagrammatically the principle of operation. In Fig. 9 there is shown an additional drum 24, say, a prolongation of the drum 14. Corresponding to every tooth 2O 'of the race upon the drum 14 there is a gap 21 upon a ridge on the drum 24, except at those parts Where the pinion is in continuous mesh When the ridge may be removed, and at every place suclim as 22 Where there is a gap between the teeth on the drum 14 there is a ridge 23 upon the drum Thus a tooth upon 14 corresponds to a gap upon 24, and a gap upon 14 to a ridge upon 24. Gearing into the drum 14 is, as before, a pinion 12 feathered upon a shaft 18, and in association With the drum 24 is a toothed Wheel 32 also feathered upon the shaft 18 (or fixed to the pinion 12 so that the pinion 12 and thetoothed Wheel 32 always rotate through lthe same angle). So as not to confuse Fig. 9, the pinions 12 and the toothed Wheel and shaft 18 are not shovvn,but the method of Working is clearly shoWn/diagrammatically so far as pinion' 12 is concerned in Fig. 10, and so far as toothed Wheel 32 is concerned in Fig. 11. lt Will be understood that the pinion 12 in Fig. 10 and the toothed Wheel 32 in Fig. 11 are upon the same shaft or geared together, and it is only for convenience of illustration that Fig. 11 is shown placed below Fig. 10. From these figures it will also be seen that the teeth of the toothed Wheel 32 correspond to the gaps between the teeth of the pinion 12. In the position shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the pinion 12 is locked because the toothed Wheel is prevented from turning by the ridge 23. As the drums 14 and 24 are moved simultaneously to the left, the tooth 2O moves pinion 12 one tooth, While a tooth ofthe toothed Wheel 32 enters the gap 21. The pinion 12 is thus prevented from turning when it is in a position upon the race or drum when it would otherwise be uncontrolled.

Provision may otherwise be made for preventing the motion of the pinion 2 or 12 at times when its teeth are not in mesh, for example, We may arrange to have sufiicient resistance to the motion of the pinion 2 or 12 to prevent its moving at times when otherwise uncontrolled.

ln the special case Where it is desired to transmit the indications of a rangeinder to a distance by electrical or other appropriate means, it is only necessary to gear an appropriate type of transmitting mechanism to the shaft 8 (Fig. 3) or 18 (Fig. 6) since a given angle of rotation of this shaft may be made to correspond to a definite change of range. Similarly other types of indications represented by the motion of a pinion, such as or 12, may be transmitted electrically or otherwise according to the purpose for which the apparatus is designed.

- We claim 1. A race adapted to have imparted to it motion according to one law provided With a large number of teeth spaced unequally apartand consisting of a number of convo-y lutions, and a pinion having a comparatively small number of teeth, the race being adapted to lbe moved and in progress its teeth caused to engage occasionally and intermittently With teeth of the pinion and impart to the pinion motion according to another law, for the purposes set forth.

2. A race adapted to have imparted to it motion according to one law provided With a large number ofl teeth spaced unequally apart arranged in the form of convolutions about'the surface of a part adapted to be rotated, in combination With a pinion having va comparatively small number of teeth and means for guiding the pinion so that as the race is moved the teeth of the race are caused to engage occasionally .and intermittently with teeth of the pinion and impart to the pinion motion according to another law, for the purposes set forth.

3. A race adapted to have imparted to it motion according to one lavv provided with a large number of teeth spaced unequally apart arranged in the form of convolutions about the circular surface of a part adapted to be rotated, in combination with a pinion having a comparatively small number of teeth and means for guiding the pinion so that as the race is moved the teeth of the race are caused to engage occasionally and intermittently with teeth of the pinion and impart to the pinion motion according to another laW, for the purposes set forth.

4. A race adapted to have imparted to it motion according to one lau7 provided with a large number of teeth spaced unequally apart arranged in the formof a helix about the surface of a part adapted to be rotated, in combination with a pinion having a comparativelv small number of teeth and means for guiding the pinion so that as the race is 'moved the teeth of the race are caused to l about the circular surface of a part adapted to be rotated, a pinion having a comparatively small number of teeth mounted capa- 4: 'Y Y 1,150,785'V ble of rotation and aXial travel'and engaged by the teeth ofthe race and have imparted to it motion` according to another law, and

a guide conforming to the convolutions of A the race for moving the pinion axially, for

apart and consisting of a lnumber of convo' iutions, in combinationk With means for pre venting the rotation of theV pinion When notin' mesh With'the teeth of the race, for the purposes set forth.

WILLEM. ANNE. MOUTON;

v ARCHBALD BARR. t WILLIAM STROUD. Witnesses: n ROBERT ALLAN, l Jol-1N HERBERT WRIGHr Copies ofthis patent may be obtained'for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.,

v i Washington. D. C. 

